A grand irony

8072009

“But you will only be able to use it outside the country” said Joyce.

I tried unsuccessfully to look disappointed but could only marvel at the irony. For my entire adult life I have been trying to get money out of Zimbabwe by various means and now here I was, being told that I could ONLY use the credit card for which I was applying outside the country! There will be a limit on it of course but who cares!

In another sign of the times I’d just phoned the offshore company that administers my other credit card because for some reason it had been blocked. It seems that the details had been stolen though how they knew I don’t know as there were no illegal transactions listed. I suspect that it happened when I was in South Africa in March as some outlets don’t require the user to input the PIN for the on card chip. That should lead to some interesting times for next year’s World Cup.

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Actually very little. It’s not a true credit card, in fact it’s more of a debit card… OK, what happens is that when I go away I put money “into” it to use. At any time I can call the bank to ask them to put more from my real account into it and when I get back the balance is transferred back. It costs $25 to apply and $2 a month thereafter. No limit on how much you can put into it… Better start as soon as I get it because I can’t see it lasting though cousin Wayne and Linda have had one for some years with no problems!